1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a laundry machine, and more particularly, to a lint filter of a laundry machine, which is capable of effectively removing lint and foreign substances from washing water that circulates in a tub.
2. Related Art
Laundry machines are home appliances for automatically washing clothes, bed linen, and other articles. In a pulsator type laundry machine, a pulsator is rotated to whirl clothes together with water containing detergent to remove dirt from the clothes. That is, the clothes are cleaned by the chemical action of the detergent and the mechanical actions of the water and the pulsator.
A pulsator type laundry machine includes an enclosing case, an outer tub accommodated in the case, an inner tub rotatably installed in the outer tub for washing and spin-drying operations, and a pulsator formed at a bottom of the inner tub.
The pulsator and the inner tub are rotated by a driving motor installed under the inner tub. During a washing operation, both the pulsator and the inner tub are rotated, and during a spin-drying operation the inner tub is only rotated.
Also, the pulsator type laundry machine includes a lint filter to remove lint and other foreign substances that are separated from clothes.
Examples of such lint filters are disclosed in Korean Patent Application Nos. 2001-0073573 and 2002-0045381.
In operation, the driving motor is operated to rotate the pulsator to whirl water. The water as it whirls moves away from the pulsator toward the inner tub by a centrifugal force, and it passes through the inner tub to move up along a passage defined between the inner tub and the outer tub. The moved-up water returns to the inner tub after passing through the lint filter where lint and other foreign substances are removed from the water.
However, to pull up the water along the passage between the inner and outer tubs to pass the water through the lint filter, the water must be filled to a specific level and the pulsator must be fully actuated to produce a sufficient centrifugal force to move up the water. Also, the lint filter removes lint and foreign substances only from the move-up water, such that the lint and foreign substances cannot be completely removed.